User interface for image acquisition devices

ABSTRACT

A user interface for image acquisition devices that provides common control of common features of different image acquisition devices while retaining the flexibility needed to provide tailored control that take advantage of unique features of each different image acquisition device. The user interface includes a control area for displaying a property sheet. The property sheet has a plurality of property pages, each of which has an interface for image acquisition device control and each of which has a tab describing the control provided by that property page. At least one property page has an interface for core image acquisition device control, and at least one property page has an interface for device-dependent image acquisition device control. The user interface also provides a property sheet with a property page that attractively provides plural interfaces for control in that property page. The property page includes a control region for providing control and a button region having multiple buttons. An appearance of the control region is changed in response to user manipulation of the multiple buttons, with each different appearance providing a different interface for the control.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application is being filed with microfiche appendices of computerprogram listings consisting of one (1) fiche having fifty-six (56)frames.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademarkoffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns an improved user interface forcontrolling an image acquisition device. In particular, the presentinvention provides a user interface including a property page having aninterface for core image acquisition device control and a property pagehaving an interface for device-dependent image acquisition devicecontrol. The present invention also provides a user interface in which aproperty page of a property sheet attractively provides pluralinterfaces for the control provided by that property page.

2. Description of the Related Art

Computer systems often include at least one image acquisition device.Most common among these devices are scanners, although digital camerasare becoming increasingly popular. In order to access the functionalityof such devices, users interact with user interfaces developed toprovide control over the devices. These user interfaces may be providedby an operating system, an application, a device driver, or by softwareloaded within an input device.

Some features of image acquisition devices which are controlled by userinterfaces are common to various devices, even among devices made bydifferent manufacturers. For example, both the user interface for aHewlett-Packard scanner and the user interface for a Kodak digitalcamera typically will provide control over an image scale feature.Despite this commonality, conventional user interfaces for differentimage acquisition devices vary markedly in how these common features arecontrolled. Thus, users must relearn the control of those commonfeatures each time a new image acquisition device is added to theirsystems.

One conventional solution to the above problem is to provide a genericuser interface. However, such user interfaces typically lack theflexibility needed to take advantage of unique features of various imageacquisition devices. For example, a generic scanner interface typicallywould be unable to provide control of a new smoothing feature of a newscanner, especially if previously-supported scanners did not providesimilar smoothing features.

Accordingly, there is a need for a user interface that provides commoncontrol of common features of different image acquisition devices whileretaining the flexibility needed to provide tailored control that takesadvantage of the unique features of each different image acquisitiondevice.

In addition to the above problem, there are typically many differentperspectives from which a user interface might allow control by a user.For example, in using an image acquisition device, a novice has adifferent understanding of the concept of tone than that of an expert.For a novice, “tone” might be understood as no more than simplebrightness/contrast control, whereas an expert might understand “tone”to refer to gamma or to the input/output characteristics of an editabletone curve. Thus, from the perspective of a novice, the user interfaceshould provide for tone control with a simple brightness/contrastadjustment, whereas from the perspective of an expert, the userinterface should provide for tone control with a fully editable tonecurve. Generalizing this concept, it is advantageous for a userinterface to provide plural different interfaces for a single control.

One conventional arrangement for providing a user interface with pluraldifferent interfaces consists of a property page having buttonscorresponding to each different interface. When a button is selected, aseparate window containing the corresponding interface is displayed.This window is “modal”, which means that the user must make any desiredadjustments within the window and exit the window before selectinganother interface. Because this conventional arrangement requires thedisplay of these modal windows, this arrangement results in a userinterface that is cluttered and unwieldy.

Another conventional arrangement for providing a user interface withplural different interfaces consists of plural different interfacescrowded onto a single property page in a property sheet. Thus, oneproperty page might provide a contrast/brightness interface, a gammainterface, and an editable curve interface, all displayed at once.However, this conventional arrangement leads to a poor user interfacebecause the property page becomes too crowded and cluttered if more thana few interfaces are provided.

Alternatively, a user interface might provide plural differentinterfaces corresponding to a single control through a property sheethaving separate property pages for each different interface. Forexample, in a scanner, to provide plural interfaces for tone control,one property page might have an interface that provides acontrast/brightness adjustment, and another property page might have aninterface that provides an editable tone curve. However, thisarrangement leads to a poor user interface for at least three reasons.First, too many property pages are needed, making the user interfaceunwieldy and unattractive. Second, because different interfaces to asingle control are spread out over separate property pages, and becauseeach interface has a different appearance, a user might be confused intothinking that each property page actually provides a different control.Third, in order to avoid inconsistencies, manipulation of one propertypage must be reflected in the other property pages, thereby violating abasic user interface design convention which requires that manipulationof one property page should not affect another property page. Incontrast to this arrangement, a well-designed user interface typicallywill be organized so that a single exclusive control is provided by asingle property page in a property sheet.

Accordingly, there is a need for a user interface in which a propertypage of a property sheet attractively provides plural interfaces forcontrol provided by the property page.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the foregoing deficiencies by providinga user interface for an image acquisition device. The user interfaceincludes a preview area for displaying a preview image and a controlarea for displaying a property sheet. The property sheet has a pluralityof property pages, each of the plurality of property pages having aninterface for image acquisition device control. At least one propertypage has an interface for core image acquisition device control, and atleast one property page has an interface for device-dependent imageacquisition device control. Manipulation of the image acquisition devicecontrol is reflected in the preview image.

By means of this arrangement, the invention provides common interfacesfor common features of different image acquisition devices whileretaining flexibility needed to tailor the interface for unique featuresof different image acquisition devices. For example, in onerepresentative embodiment, the user interface provides a property sheetwith “Main”, “Tone”, and “Preferences” property pages for interfacesthat provide core image acquisition device control. These three propertypages are provided regardless of the kind of image acquisition deviceconnected to a computer system executing the user interface. Theproperty sheet-also can have one or more dynamically-loadeddevice-dependent property pages. Thus, if an interface is needed for theunique features of a particular scanner, for example a scanner thatprovides unique half-toning features, a dynamically-loadeddevice-dependent property page can provide that interface.

In the preferred embodiment, the user interface is provided by a TWAINdata source and is therefore used to control a TWAIN-compliant imageacquisition device. One such TWAIN data source is disclosed incommonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/944,434, entitled“TWAIN Architecture”, which is incorporated herein as if set forth infull.

In another aspect, a user interface includes a property sheet with aplurality of property pages, each property page having a tab describingcontrol provided by the property page. At least one of the propertypages includes a control region for providing control and a buttonregion having multiple buttons. An appearance of the control region ischanged in response to user manipulation of the multiple buttons, withdifferent appearances providing different interfaces for control.Preferably, the appearances of other property pages in the propertysheet also can change, providing multiple interfaces, or are fixed,providing a single interface.

By means of this arrangement, a user can select a property page byselecting a tab that describes control provided by the property page.Then, by manipulating the multiple buttons on the property page, theuser can select an interface. The appearance of the property page ischanged in response to the manipulation of the buttons, allowing theuser to choose the interface most suitable to the user for utilizingcontrol provided by the property page.

For example, in one representative embodiment, a user interfaceaccording to the invention controls an image acquisition device. Theuser interface includes a property sheet with property pages tabbed for“Main” control, “Tone” control, and “Preferences” control. Theappearances of the “Main” and “Preferences” property pages are fixed,providing fixed interfaces for main control and preferences control. Incontrast, the “Tone” property page includes a button region with pluralradio buttons and a control region whose appearance is changed so as toprovide different interfaces for tone control. The button regionincludes buttons for the following types of tone control: automatic,brightness/contrast, gamma, histogram, and editable curve. Theappearance of the control region of the “Tone” property page is changedin response to user manipulation of these buttons. For example, when thegamma tone control button is selected, the appearance of the controlregion is changed so as to display gamma tone control, such as controlby a slide and a text box for selecting a gamma value and a transfercurve representing the effect of the gamma value on tone. Alternatively,when the editable curve tone control button is selected, an appearanceof the control region is changed so as to display editable curve tonecontrol, such as control by a text box for selecting special tone curvesand a fully editable tone curve. Thus, the different appearances providedifferent interfaces for the control provided by the property page, inthis case tone control.

In a related aspect, the multiple buttons are arranged based on userfamiliarity with or complexity of the different interfaces resultingfrom user manipulation of the multiple buttons. By means of thesearrangements, a user can easily select the interface that best suits hisor her level of expertise or needs. For example, in terms of therepresentative embodiment described above, the radio buttons arearranged in the following order, from most familiar to novices tofamiliar primarily to experts: auto, brightness/contrast, gamma,histogram, and editable curve. A novice could select the auto tonecontrol interface, and an expert could select the editable curve tonecontrol interface. As described above, the appearance of the controlregion of the “Tone” property page, and the corresponding interface fortone control, would change accordingly.

In another aspect, an appearance of a property page is changed so as toprovide plural different interfaces. The property page includes pluralelements such as list boxes, text boxes, slides, curves, and the like. Afirst interface includes at least one of the plural elements, and asecond interface includes at least one of the plural elements. The firstinterface is provided by showing the at least one of the plural elementsincluded in the first interface and by hiding all other of the pluralelements. The appearance of the property page is changed so as toprovide the second interface in response to user manipulation ofmultiple buttons. The second interface is provided by showing the atleast one of the plural elements included in the second interface and byhiding all other of the plural elements.

This brief summary has been provided so that the nature of the inventionmay be understood quickly. A more complete understanding of theinvention can be obtained by reference to the following detaileddescription of the preferred embodiments thereof in connection with theattached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view of the outward appearance of a representative computingsystem.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the internal architecture of theFIG. 1 system.

FIG. 3 is a view of a graphical user interface of a client imageprocessing application.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a TWAIN-compliant image processing systemutilizing a TWAIN data source according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a TWAIN-compliant image processing systemutilizing a TWAIN data source according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for describing operation of a TWAIN data sourceaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a general organization of a user interfacefor an image acquisition device.

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating a “Main” property page, which provides aninterface for main core control.

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a “Preferences” property page, whichprovides an interface for preferences core control.

FIGS. 10 a and 10 b are views illustrating sample device-dependentinterfaces for device-dependent control of scanners.

FIG. 10 a is a view illustrating a “CS600” property page, which providesa sample device-dependent interface for device-dependent control of amodel “CS600” scanner.

FIG. 10 b is a view illustrating a “C5000” property page, which providesa sample device-dependent interface for device-dependent control of amodel “C5000” multipass scanner.

FIGS. 11 a through 11 e are views illustrating a “Tone” property page,which provides plural interfaces to tone core control.

FIG. 11 a is a view illustrating an interface for automatic tonecontrol.

FIG. 11 b is a view illustrating an interface for contrast/brightnesstone control.

FIG. 11 c is a view illustrating an interface for gamma tone control.

FIG. 11 d is a view illustrating an interface for histogram tonecontrol.

FIG. 11 e is a view illustrating an interface for editable curve tonecontrol.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for describing how device-dependent interfacesand device-independent core interfaces, which are provided by a userinterface for an image acquisition device, are displayed in a propertypage and manipulated.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for describing how interfaces are displayed in aproperty page, with changes in the appearance of a control region of theproperty page providing different interfaces.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for describing how an appearance of a propertypage is changed so as to provide plural different interfaces.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for describing how the present user interface isused so as to control an image acquisition device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a representational view of a computer system in which thepresent invention may be utilized. Computer system 1 may be a Macintosh,PC-compatible, or other type of system having a windowing environment,such as Microsoft® Windows. Provided with computer system 1 are display2 which may be a color monitor, keyboard 4 for entering user commandsand pointing device 5 such as a mouse for pointing to and formanipulating graphical user interfaces and other objects displayed ondisplay 2.

Computer system 1 also includes a mass storage device such as fixed disk6 for storing image processing applications, computer-executable processsteps to implement dynamically-loadable device drivers,computer-executable process steps to implement dynamically-loadabledevice user interfaces, and computer-executable process steps toimplement the below-described TWAIN data source architecture and otherapplications. Such storage may also be provided by a CD-ROM (not shown).

Scanner 7 and film adapter unit 12 are image acquisition devices thatare also included. Scanner 7 may be used to scan documents so as toprovide images of those documents to an image processing applicationexecuting within computer system 1. Examples of scanner 7 are a Canonmodel CS600 scanner and a Canon model C5000 multipass scanner. Filmadapter unit 12 is an adapter that attaches to certain models of scanner7 so as to allow scanner 7 to perform similar functions with filminstead of with documents. Of course, images may be input into computersystem 1 using other image acquisition devices, such as a digital cameraor the like. Images may also be input into computer system 1 from avariety of other sources, such as from a Local Area Network (LAN)through network interface 9. Printer 11 is provided for outputtingprocessed images.

It should be understood that, although a programmable general purposecomputer is shown in FIG. 1, a dedicated computer terminal or other typeof data processing equipment can utilize a TWAIN data source asdiscussed below.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram showing the internal architecture ofcomputer system 1. As shown in FIG. 2, computer system 1 includescentral processing unit (CPU) 13 which interfaces with computer bus 14.Also interfacing with computer bus 14 is scanner interface 15, printerinterface 16, network interface 17, facsimile/modem is interface 19,display interface 20, main random access memory (RAM) 21, fixed disk 6,keyboard interface 22, and mouse interface 24. Scanner interface 15 canbe a SCSI interface or a parallel interface. For example, in a case thatscanner 7 is a Canon model CS600 scanner, scanner interface 15 is a SCSIinterface. In a case that scanner 7 is a Canon model C5000 multipassscanner, scanner interface 15 is a parallel interface.

Main memory 21 interfaces with computer bus 14 so as to provide RAMstorage to CPU 13 during execution of software applications. Morespecifically, CPU 13 loads process steps from fixed disk 6 into mainmemory 21 and executes the stored process steps from main memory 21 inorder to provide a TWAIN data source to a client application.

As also shown in FIG. 2, fixed disk 6 contains image processingapplications such as Adobe Photoshop or Corel Draw, computer-executableprocess steps to provide a core TWAIN data source as described below,computer-executable process steps to provide dynamically-loadable deviceuser interfaces, computer-executable process steps to providedynamically-loadable device drivers, and other applications. It shouldbe noted that the process steps to provide the present core TWAIN datasource include process steps to provide a core TWAIN graphical userinterface, such as the core TWAIN graphical user interface describedbelow.

FIG. 3 shows user interface 30 of a client image processing application.Upon selection of “Acquire” button 31, menu 32 is displayed. As shown,menu 32 includes a list of available TWAIN data sources. In accordancewith the TWAIN protocol, Acquire button 31 provides a link to a TWAINdata source manager, which provides, in turn, information required tocreate menu 32.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a TWAIN-compliant systemutilizing the presently-described TWAIN data source architecture. Thesystem includes client image processing application 40 for processingimages received from image acquisition devices, data files, or the like.As stated above, client image processing application 40 communicateswith TWAIN source manager 41 upon user selection of Acquire button 31.Although indicated as separate elements in FIG. 4, TWAIN source manager41 is often bundled together with client image processing application40.

TWAIN source manager 41 is responsible for locating TWAIN data sources,calling TWAIN data sources, and for managing communication with TWAINdata sources. As described above, a TWAIN data source is a dynamic linklibrary (DLL) which provides both device driver functionality and aTWAIN user interface to a TWAIN-compliant image processing application.In the present case, the subject data source provides a core TWAIN userinterface and also provides means for supporting a dynamically-loadeddevice-dependent user interface.

TWAIN access module 44 identifies the subject TWAIN data source to TWAINsource manager 41. Moreover, TWAIN access module 44 presents a softwareentry point to TWAIN source manager 41, as required by the TWAINspecification. TWAIN source manager 41 uses the entry point to passTWAIN triplets to the subject TWAIN data source.

TWAIN access module 44 receives TWAIN commands, in the form of TWAINtriplets, from TWAIN source manager 41 and passes the triplets to TWAINprotocol manager 45.

TWAIN protocol manager 45 parses TWAIN triplets received from TWAINaccess module 44 and executes appropriate actions by communicating withimage operations manager 49. Accordingly, any functionality requested byclient image processing application 40 is provided by TWAIN protocolmanager 45.

User interface module 46 presents a core TWAIN user interface to a userand receives user input by detecting user manipulation of the interface.User input received by user interface module 46 is passed to imageoperations manager 49. As described in detail below, the graphical userinterface provided by user interface module 46 is capable of supportinga device-dependent, dynamically-loadable user interface corresponding toa selected image acquisition device.

User interface module 46 is solely responsible for display and controlof the core graphical user interface, therefore another core graphicaluser interface can be employed simply by replacing user interface module46 with another user interface module 46 capable of display and controlof a different core TWAIN graphical user interface.

Image operations manager 49 receives the commands input into the coreTWAIN user interface and into any dynamically-loaded user interface.Accordingly, image operations manager 49 translates these inputs intoactual operations. Image operations manager 49 also receives parsedTWAIN triplets from TWAIN protocol manager 45 in order to executeappropriate actions.

In addition, image operations manager 49 controls image input,manipulation, and resource allocation. Accordingly, image operationsmanager 49 is responsible for sending received image data to optionalimage processing modules such as an in-line transformation module forline-by-line processing (half toning, color adjustment, etc.) and, ifnecessary, for sending the data to another image processing module suchas an image transformation module, a color matching module, or otherimaging utilities.

Image operations manager 49 is preferably configured so as to query adevice driver corresponding to a selected image acquisition device as tothe capabilities of the acquisition device, and to negotiate with clientimage processing application 40, using TWAIN API 42 and TWAIN protocolmanager 45, in order to determine image acquisition parameters. Imageacquisition parameters are used to control features of an imageacquisition device and thereby define the properties under which imageacquisition occurs.

Image operations manager 49 is also responsible for communicating withdevice interface object 50.

Device interface object 50 communicates with image operations manager 49and with a selected software device driver. More specifically, deviceinterface object 50 is responsible for dynamically loading a devicedriver which corresponds to selected image acquisition device 52. Asshown in FIG. 5, device interface object 50 allows multiple imageacquisition devices 59 to 63 to be connected to the system viadynamically-loadable device drivers 54 to 58, and also provides devicedrivers with a common interface to image operations manager 49.

Device interface object 50 is also responsible for loadingdynamically-loadable device user interface 47 corresponding to selectedimage acquisition device 52.

By virtue of the foregoing, an image acquisition device vendor need onlyprovide dynamically-loadable device driver 51 for interfacing to deviceinterface object 50 and dynamically-loadable device user interface 47 inorder to provide TWAIN support for acquisition device 52.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for describing an operation of a TWAIN data sourcewithin the system shown in FIG. 4. Flow begins at step S600.

In step S601, a user selects Acquire button 31 from user interface 30 ofclient image processing application 40. In response to the selection,TWAIN data source menu 32 is displayed. Flow proceeds to step S602, inwhich image acquisition device 52 is selected from menu 32. Next, instep S603, TWAIN source manager 41 calls TWAIN access module 44, whichcorresponds to image acquisition device 52, in order to enablecommunication between client image processing application 40 and imageacquisition device 52.

In step S604, device interface object 50 loads dynamically-loadabledevice driver 51 corresponding to image acquisition device 52. Flowcontinues to step S605, at which device interface object 50 loadsdynamically-loadable device user interface 47, also corresponding toimage acquisition device 52. Accordingly, dynamically-loadable devicedriver 51 is used to control image acquisition device 52 based on usermanipulation of dynamically-loadable device user interface 47 and of acore TWAIN user interface provided by user interface module 46.

In step S606, a TWAIN user interface is displayed. The TWAIN userinterface incorporates both the core TWAIN user interface anddynamically-loadable device user interface 47. Flow terminates at stepS607.

Attention is now directed to a user interface for a TWAIN data source.Briefly, such a user interface provides common control for commonfeatures of different image acquisition devices while retaining theflexibility needed to provide tailored control that takes advantage ofthe unique features of each different image acquisition device. The userinterface includes a control area for displaying a property sheet. Theproperty sheet has a plurality of property pages, each of the pluralityof property pages having an interface for image acquisition devicecontrol. At least one property page has an interface for core imageacquisition device control, and at least one property page has aninterface for device-dependent image acquisition device control.Manipulation of the image acquisition device control is reflected in thepreview image.

In more detail, FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a general organization ofuser interface 64 for an image acquisition device attached to computersystem 1. In the preferred embodiment, user interface 64 is provided bya TWAIN data source and is therefore used to control a TWAIN-compliantimage acquisition device. For the following discussion, a model CS600scanner and a film adapter unit are assumed to be such image acquisitiondevices and are attached to computer system 1.

It should be noted that in the preferred embodiment, user interface 64is implemented in computer-executable process steps provided by userinterface module 46. The computer-executable process steps can be storedon a computer-readable medium, such as fixed disk 6, and executed by CPU13 from memory 21.

In FIG. 7, user interface 64 has main window 65, which includes previewarea 67, tool bar 68, control area 69, status bar 70, and logo box 71.

Preview area 67 includes preview button 73 and scan button 74. Whenpreview button 73 is selected, a selected image acquisition devicedelivers preview image 76 at the resolution of display 2. Because thisresolution is relatively low, typically about 75 dpi, this preview scanis extremely fast. Preview image 76 is displayed in preview area 67.User interface 64 then can be manipulated so as to adjust preview image76 and to adjust the selected image acquisition device, as describedbelow. Preview image 76 immediately reflects these adjustments. Then,when scan button 74 is selected, the image acquisition device deliversan image according to the adjustments.

Tool bar 68 includes various tools for selecting a scan area 77 frompreview area 67 and for manipulating the view of preview image 76. Theseselections and manipulations affect how the image is delivered when scanbutton 74 is clicked. For example, only scan area 77 is scanned whenscan button 74 is clicked, and not all of preview image 76.

Clear preview tool 80 clears preview image 76 and resets all settings ofuser interface 64 to their default (start-up) values.

Three cursor tools include selection tool 81, move tool 82, and zoomtool 83. These three tools are radio buttons, meaning only one can beselected at a time.

Selection tool 81 allows the selection of scan area 77 in preview area67. Scan area 77 is the area that is previewed or scanned the next timepreview button 73 or scan button 74 is selected.

Move tool 82 sets the cursor to a hand shape when placed in preview area67 and allows the user to move around the magnified view of previewimage 76. The user moves around the view by “grabbing” the image anddragging it around preview area 67. When the cursor is dragged inpreview area 67, preview image 76 scrolls in preview area 67 in the samedirection and by the same amount as the drag.

Zoom tool 83 sets the cursor to a magnifying glass when placed inpreview area 67 and allows the user to magnify and to reduce previewimage 76. Pressing the left mouse button causes preview image 76 to zoomin, magnifying the image by two times. When zoomed in, preview area 67includes scroll bars (not shown) for scrolling across preview image 76.Pressing the right mouse button causes preview image 76 to zoom out,reducing the image to the next zoom ratio of a predetermined set of zoomratios. In the preferred embodiment, the set of zoom ratios consists of1:1.5, 1:2, 1:3, and 1:4. Preview image 76 cannot be zoomed out furtherthan the last preview performed (i.e., the last time preview button 73was selected).

Two position tools include invert tool 84 and mirror tool 85. Inverttool 84 inverts the individual RGB values of each pixel of preview image76. This inversion results in an image akin to a negative of anoriginal. Mirror tool 85 horizontally flips preview image 76.

When selected, rotate counter-clockwise tool 86 and rotate clockwisetool 87 cause preview image 76 to rotate ninety degrees in theappropriate direction. Note that in a zoomed view, both preview image 76and scan area 77 rotate about the center point of preview area 67.Therefore, the contents of preview image 76 and scan area 77 do notchange; only their orientation is altered.

Ruler tool 88 produces rulers at the top and left edges of preview area67. The rulers use the same units as designated in units list box 109 of“Main” property page 94, discussed below. In a magnified view, themarkings on the rulers change according to the scroll position.

Auto button 89 serves as a proxy of auto tone control button 133 in“Tone” property page 95, discussed below. Selecting this buttonactivates automatic tone correction; selecting it again deactivatesautomatic tone correction. Note that the setting of auto button 89 isreflected by auto tone control button 133, and vice versa. In otherwords, if one of the buttons is in the “on” position, the other buttonwill be in the “on” position.

Help tool 90 invokes a help window. In the preferred embodiment, thiswindow is a TWAIN Acquire Help Topics window.

Control area 69 includes property sheet 92 with plural property pages 94through 98. Each property page includes a tab describing controlprovided by the property page. Thus, “Main” property page 94 providesmain control, “Tone” property page 95 provides tone control, and“Preferences” property page 96 provides preferences control. Because amodel CS600 scanner and an FAU are attached to computer system 1 and thenecessary software is loaded on hard drive 6, property sheet 92 includes“CS600” property page 97 and “FAU” property page 98. “CS600” propertypage 97 provides control of the CS600 model scanner, and “FAU” propertypage 98 provides control of the film adaptor unit.

Status bar 70 provides feedback to the user. This feedback includesinformation on current operational status (i.e., scanning, previewing,how to get help, etc.), color mode, selected resolution, selectedscanning area width and height, and the resulting file size of thecurrent scan selection and settings.

Logo box 71 displays a Canon TWAIN logo, but the box can be modified toserve other purposes as needed.

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating “Main” property page 94, which provides aninterface for main core control. “Main” property page 94 isdevice-independent; it is included in property sheet 92 regardless ofthe kind of image acquisition device connected to computer system 1. Forexample, “Main” property page 94 is included in property sheet 92regardless of whether the image acquisition device is a scanner, adigital camera, or a film adapter unit. Accordingly, the interface forcontrol displayed in “Main” property page 94 corresponds to corefeatures common to different image acquisition devices.

In the preferred embodiment, the main control corresponds to core TWAINcontrol. The main control includes the most essential control forcontrolling a TWAIN-compliant image acquisition device. Thus, “Main”property page 94 includes scan mode area 100, scan resolution area 102,and scan selection area 104. Any user manipulation made in these areasis immediately reflected by preview image 76.

Scan mode area 100 includes mode list box 101, which allows the user toselect color, grayscale, text enhanced, or black and white mode. In thepreferred embodiment, if the black and white mode is selected in modelist box 101, “Tone” property page 95 is hidden (i.e., inaccessible tothe user), and tone control is provided by the appropriatedevice-dependent property page for each image acquisition device.

Scan resolution area 102 includes list box 103, which allows the user toselect a resolution for acquiring an image in terms of a target outputdevice. For example, if a user knows that he or she will be displaying ascanned image on a 75 dpi display screen, the user can select “Screen 75dpi”, and the image acquisition device will acquire the image at thatresolution. One of the default entries provided in list box 103 is for“custom resolution” (not shown). Selecting “custom resolution” resultsin a dialog box that allows the user to assign a resolution to an outputdevice type, such as a new printer or a display screen. Alternatively, auser can simply enter a value into list box 103 to select theresolution.

Scan selection area 104 includes width text box 106, height text box107, proportion constraint button 108, units list box 109, scale spinner110, and output size text 111.

Width text box 106 and height text box 107 contain the width and heightof the current scan area 77. These text boxes can be edited, causingscan area 77 to change accordingly, with the upper left corner of scanarea 77 remaining fixed.

When proportion constraint button 108 is selected (“on”), scan area 77is restricted to the current height to width ratio. In order to remindthe user of this restriction, an image of a chain (not shown) appearsbetween width text box 106 and height text box 107.

Units list box 109 allows the user to select the units used for widthtext box 106 and height text box 107. The selected units are also usedfor the rulers in preview area 67 if ruler tool 88 is selected.

Scale spinner 110 contains the scale factor to be applied to scan area77. Modifying the scale factor changes the output size for a scan.

Output size text 111 simply displays the output size of the current scanarea, accounting for any adjustments made in selection area 104.

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating “Preferences” property page 96, whichprovides an interface for preferences core control. “Preferences”property page 96 is device-independent; it is included in property sheet92 regardless of the kind of image acquisition device connected tocomputer system 1. Accordingly, the interface for control displayed in“Preferences” property page 96 corresponds to core features common todifferent image acquisition devices.

In the preferred embodiment, the preferences control also corresponds tocore TWAIN control. The preferences control allows the user to control anumber of TWAIN image acquisition settings, such as settings for textenhancement, for subsequent optical character recognition, and for colormatching. Thus, “Preferences” property page 96 includes text enhancementcheck box 113 and color matching check box 114. User manipulation ofcolor matching check box 114 is immediately reflected by preview image76.

FIGS. 10 a and 10 b are views illustrating sample device-dependentinterfaces for device-dependent control of scanners.

FIG. 10 a is a view illustrating “CS600” property page 97, whichprovides a sample device-dependent interface for device-dependentcontrol of a model “CS600” scanner, shown as scanner 7 in FIG. 1. Thisinterface is dynamically loaded by device interface object 50. Thus,“CS600” property page 97 provides tailored control needed to takeadvantage of features unique to the CS600 scanner. Any user manipulationof the interface is immediately reflected by preview image 76.

“CS600” property page 97 includes image source list box 116, paper sizelist box 117, test scanner button 118, smoothing check box 119,half-tone area 120, and information area 127. Image source list box 116allows the user to select the scanning source. Possible options areplaten and film adapter unit. Paper size list box 117 allows the user toselect a default preview scanning size. Test scanner button 118 beginsthe execution of any diagnostics that can be performed. Results areshown in a dialog pop-up box (not shown). Smoothing check box 119enables device-specific smoothing.

Half-tone area 120 includes half-tone type list box 121, auto check box122, manual check box 123, threshold slide 124, threshold text box 125,and proxy image 126. Half-tone type list box 121 lists all availablehalf-tone patterns. Half-tone patterns only have an effect when modelist box 101 in “Main” property page 94 is set to black and white mode.Auto check box 122 allows automatic setting of a threshold value if athreshold method of half-toning is selected in half-tone type list box121. Auto check box 122 is disabled if any other method is selectedmanual check box 123 allows the user to choose to manually set thethreshold for the threshold method of half-toning. Threshold slide 124and threshold check box 125 are used to manually set the threshold. Theeffects of the selected half-tone pattern and threshold are reflected inproxy image 126.

Information area 127 displays relevant information, such as interfacemodel and revision.

Also shown in FIG. 10 is a tab for “FAU” property page 98, which isanother sample device-dependent interface for device-dependent control.“FAU” property page 98 provides an interface specific to a film adapterunit, such as film adapter unit 12 shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, “FAU”property page 98 allows a user to take advantage of features unique tofilm adapter unit 12.

FIG. 10 b is a view illustrating “C5000” property page 200, whichprovides a sample device-dependent interface for device-dependentcontrol of a model C5000 multipass scanner. This interface isdynamically loaded by device interface object 50. Thus, “C5000” propertypage 200 provides tailored control needed to take advantage of featuresunique to the C5000 scanner. Any user manipulation of the interface isimmediately reflected by preview image 76.

“C5000” property page 200 includes page size area 201, black and whiteoptions area 202, and information area 211. Page size area 201 includespaper size list box 203, width text box 204, length text box 205, andunits list box 206. Page size area 201 allows the user to select a sizefor the scanned image, either by selecting a paper size in paper sizelist box 203 or by directly selecting page dimensions with width textbox 204 and length text box 205. The values in width text box 204 andlength text box 205 are in the units selected in units list box 206.

Black and white options area 202 includes half-tone type list box 207,brightness slide 208, contrast slide 209, and proxy image 210. Half-tonetype list box 207 lists all available half-tone patterns. Half-tonepatterns only have an effect when mode list box 101 in “Main” propertypage 94 is set to black and white mode. Brightness slide 208 andcontrast slide 209 provide tone control for the scanned image. Theeffects of the selected half-tone pattern, brightness slide setting, andcontrast slide setting are reflected in proxy image 210.

In the preferred embodiment, when mode list box 101 of “Main” propertypage 94 is set to black and white mode, “Tone” property page 95 ishidden (i.e., inaccessible to the user). In that case, tone control maybe provided by the appropriate device-dependent property page for aselected image acquisition device. FIG. 10 b illustrates this situation:tone property page 95 is hidden (i.e., not shown in property sheet 92),and brightness slide 208 and contrast slide 209 provide tone control.

Information area 211 displays relevant information, such as interfacemodel and revision.

Additional property pages may be displayed for controlling other devicesand for controlling extended features of existing devices, as needed. Inthe case of extended features of an existing device, adynamically-loaded property page can be implemented as an additionalproperty page or as a replacement of the existing property page for theexisting device.

FIGS. 11 a through 11 e are views illustrating “Tone” property page 95,which provides plural interfaces to tone core control. “Tone” propertypage 95 is device-independent; it is included in property sheet 92regardless of the kind of image acquisition device connected to computersystem 1. Accordingly, the interface for control displayed in “Tone”property page 95 corresponds to core tone features common to differentimage acquisition devices. Any user manipulation of the interface isimmediately reflected by preview image 76.

“Tone” property page 95 is an example of a property page thatadvantageously provides plural interfaces for control provided by theproperty page. Briefly, a property page within a property sheet providesplural interfaces for control by having a control region and a buttonregion, the button region having multiple buttons. An appearance of thecontrol region is changed in response to user manipulation of themultiple buttons, with different appearances providing differentinterfaces for control.

In more detail, “Tone” property page 95 has button region 130 andcontrol region 131. Button region 130 includes multiple buttons:automatic tone control button 133, brightness/contrast tone controlbutton 134, gamma tone control button 135, histogram tone control button136, and editable curve tone control button 137. Note that in thepreferred embodiment, these buttons are radio-style buttons, meaningthat only one button can be selected at a time.

Each button corresponds to a different interface for controlling tone.When one of the buttons is selected, the appearance of control region131 is changed accordingly, providing the corresponding interface forcontrolling tone. This arrangement attractively provides pluralinterfaces for the control provided by “Tone” property page 95.

FIG. 11 a is a view illustrating an interface for automatic tonecontrol. Automatic tone control button 133 has been selected, causing“Tone” property page 95 to display automatic tone control interface 139in control region 131. Alternatively, this interface can be displayed asthe default tone control interface when “Tone” property page 95 is firstdisplayed.

Automatic tone control interface 139 is the simplest interface, suitablefor complete novices. As the name suggests, tone control is entirelyautomatic, with no user manipulation possible. Automatic tone controlinterface 139 simply displays tone curves 140 representing automatictone adjustments made by an automatic color algorithm.

Briefly, curves 140 show transfer functions for red, green, and bluetone adjustments. The bottom axis represents input tones, and the sideaxis represents output tones. For example, with respect to curve 140 a,input tone 141 (representing a dark tone) results in output tone 142(representing a light tone).

FIG. 11 b is a view illustrating an interface for contrast/brightnesstone control. Contrast/brightness tone control button 134 has beenselected, causing “Tone” property page 95 to display contrast/brightnesstone control interface 144 in control region 131. This interface is morecomplicated than automatic tone control interface 139, allowing someuser manipulation. The user can choose to manipulate the master channel,the red channel, the green channel, or the blue channel via channel listbox 145. The user then can manipulate contrast slide 146 and brightnessslide 147 to adjust the tone. The manipulations are reflected in tonecurve 148. Finally, reset button 148 can be used to resetbrightness/contrast tone control interface 144 to default values.

FIG. 11 c is a view illustrating an interface for gamma tone control.Gamma tone control button 135 has been selected, causing “Tone” propertypage 95 to display gamma tone control interface 151 in control region131. The user can choose to manipulate the master channel, the redchannel, the green channel, or the blue channel via channel list box152. The user then can adjust the gamma setting, a measure of toneadjustment well-known to those familiar with image processing, withgamma slide 153. The gamma value is displayed in text box 154.Alternatively, a gamma value can be directly entered into text box 154.Tone curve 155 reflects the resulting effect on the transfer function ofa controlled tone channel. Finally, reset button 156 can be used toreset gamma tone control interface 151 to default values.

FIG. 11 d is a view illustrating an interface for histogram tonecontrol. Histogram tone control button 136 has been selected, causing“Tone” property page 95 to display histogram tone control interface 158in control region 131. The user can choose to manipulate the masterchannel, the red channel, the green channel, or the blue channel viachannel list box 159.

Histogram 161 shows a histogram of the tone values shown in previewimage 76. This histogram reflects each input tone within preview image76. Thus, every input tone is assigned a point along the horizontal axisof the histogram according to the value of the tone. The height of thehistogram at each point along the horizontal axis corresponds to thenumber of pixels in preview image 76 having tones corresponding to thatpoint. Black point 162, mid-point 163, and white-point 164 are alsoshown on the histogram. The tone values corresponding to these pointscan be controlled with black-point adjustment 166, mid-point adjustment167, and white-point adjustment 168. The only constraint is thatmid-point 163 must remain between black-point 162 and white-point 164.

Each adjustment is composed of a text box and an eye-dropper tool. Tochange an adjustment, the user either enters a value into the text boxor selects an eye-dropper tool. If an eye-dropper tool is selected, thecursor is changed into the selected eye-dropper. The user then selects apixel from preview image 76 in preview area 67, and the value of theselected pixel is used to set the tone point corresponding to theselected eye-dropper.

Every input tone in the previewed image to the left of black-point 162is output as a 0% tone (e.g., completely black). Similarly, every inputtone to the right of white-point 164 is output as a 100% tone (e.g.,completely white or completely red). Input tones between black-point 162and white-point 164 are output as partial tones, with the percent tonedetermined by the position of grey-point 163. Tone curve 170 reflectsthese adjustments. Note that white point 162 can be set to the left ofblack point 164 with the tone adjustments. In that case, the above rulesare reversed (i.e., input tones to the right or black-point 162 areoutput as 0% tones; input tones to the left of white-point 164 areoutput as 100% tones), resulting in a “negative” type preview image inpreview area 67. Finally, reset button 171 can be used to resethistogram tone control interface 158 to default values.

Note that the histogram control is the most complicated discussed sofar. Accordingly, making histogram adjustments may take considerabletime and expertise. Therefore, histogram tone control interface 158 alsoincludes load button 172 and save button 173. These buttons causestandard dialog boxes to appear for loading and saving histogramadjustments.

FIG. 11 e is a view illustrating an interface for editable curve tonecontrol. Editable curve tone control button 137 has been selected,causing “Tone” property page 95 to display editable curve tone controlinterface 174 in control region 131. This interface is the most complexin that it provides the greatest freedom in controlling tone features.Accordingly, the editable curve tone control is suitable for experts.

The user can choose to manipulate the master channel, the red channel,the green channel, or the blue channel via channel list box 176. Theuser then can select a special curve to apply to the tone via pull-downmenu 177. Alternatively, the user can directly manipulate editable tonecurve 178. In the preferred embodiment, the user can add and move anynumber of points on editable tone curve 178, and the curve will adjustto fit the added or moved points. Finally, reset button 179 can be usedto reset editable curve tone control interface 174 to default values.

As with histogram tone control interface 158, adjusting tone usingeditable curve tone control interface 174 may take considerable time andexpertise. Therefore, editable curve tone control interface 174 also hasload button 180 and save button 181. These buttons cause standard dialogboxes to appear for loading and saving curve adjustments.

Note that the buttons in button region 130 are ordered according to theinterfaces that result from selecting each of the buttons. In therepresentative embodiment discussed above, the ordering is based on thefamiliarity of the interfaces to users of different levels of expertise.Thus, as shown in FIGS. 11 a through 11 e, the left-most buttoncorresponds to an interface familiar to novices (automatic tonecontrol), and the right-most button corresponds to an interface familiarprimarily to experts (editable curve tone control). This ordering isadvantageous because it allows a user to progress in order frominterfaces familiar to novices to those familiar to experts as his orher expertise increases.

In another embodiment, the ordering is based on the complexity of theinterface, meaning the number and type of slides, list boxes, curves,etc. Thus, the ordering is the same as that shown in FIGS. 11 a through11 e, except that gamma tone control button 135, which corresponds to aninterface having one slide control, precedes brightness/contrast tonecontrol button 134, which corresponds to an interface having two slidecontrols. This ordering is advantageous because it allows a user toselect the interface that provides the simplest controls suitable forhis or her needs. Of course, the ordering may also be based on acombination of interface familiarity and interface complexity.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for describing how device-dependent interfacesand device-independent core interfaces, which are provided by a userinterface for an image acquisition device, are displayed in a propertypage and manipulated. First, in step S1201, main window 65 havingpreview area 67 and control area 69 is displayed. In step S1202,property sheet 92 with property pages 94 through 98 is displayed incontrol area 69. Each property page provides one or more interfaces to acontrol. In the preferred embodiment, the control is described by a tabon the property page. Also, in the preferred embodiment, steps S1201 andS1202 occur simultaneously. User selection of a property page isaccepted in step S1203.

In step S1204, it is determined whether the selected property pageprovides at least one device-dependent interface or at least onedevice-independent interface. Device-dependent interfaces are forfeatures unique to a particular kind of image acquisition device. Deviceindependent interfaces are for features common to different imageacquisition devices. If the property page provides a device-dependentinterface, in step S1205 an appropriate dynamically-loadeddevice-dependent interface is displayed. If the property page provides adevice-independent interface, in step S1206 an appropriatedevice-independent interface, which is provided by the core TWAIN, isdisplayed. In either case, flow proceeds to step S1207, where usermanipulation of the displayed interface is accepted. In step S1208, theuser manipulation of the displayed interface is reflected in the previewarea. Finally, flow returns to step S1203 so as to allow the user toselect another property page.

By means of the above, the invention provides a common control forcommon features of different image acquisition devices by means ofinterfaces provided by a core TWAIN data source. The invention alsoretains the flexibility needed to provide tailored controls that takeadvantage of the unique features of each different image acquisitiondevice by means of the dynamically-loaded interfaces.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for describing how interfaces are displayed in aproperty page, with changes in the appearance of a control region of theproperty page providing different interfaces. This operation isperformed in both step S1205 and step S1206 of FIG. 12, described above.

In step S1301, it is determined if the property page provides oneinterface or plural interfaces. For example, “Main” property page 94provides one interface for main control. In contrast, “Tone” propertypage 95 provides many interfaces for tone control. If only one interfaceis provided, the corresponding property page, such as “Main” propertypage 94, is displayed in step S1302 with its one interface.

If many interfaces are provided, a property page with both a buttonregion and a control region is displayed in step S1303. For example,“Tone” property page 95 is displayed with button region 130 and controlregion 131. Note that when “Tone” property page 95 is first displayed, adefault interface such as automatic tone control interface 139 isdisplayed in control region 131.

In step S1304, multiple buttons are displayed in the button region, onefor each available interface. Thus, with respect to “Tone” property page95, five buttons 133 through 137 are displayed for the five availableinterfaces (i.e., automatic, contrast/brightness, gamma, histogram, andeditable curve tone control interfaces). Next, in step S1305, theappearance of the control region is changed in response to usermanipulation of the multiple buttons. Different appearances providedifferent interfaces for control provided by the property page. Forexample, if histogram tone control button 136 is selected in buttonregion 130, the appearance of control region 131 is changed so as todisplay histogram tone control interface 139, which provides histogramtone control. Alternatively, if the user does not manipulate themultiple buttons, the default interface is retained in control region131.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for describing how an appearance of a propertypage is changed so as to provide plural different interfaces. Thisoperation corresponds to steps S1303 through S1305 in FIG. 13. Briefly,the property page includes plural elements such as list boxes, textboxes, slides, curves, and the like. A first interface includes at leastone of the plural elements, and a second interface includes at least oneof the plural elements. The first interface is provided by showing theat least one of the plural elements included in the first interface andby hiding all other of the plural elements. In response to usermanipulation of multiple buttons, the appearance of the property page ischanged so as to provide the second interface. The second interface isprovided by showing the at least one of the plural elements included inthe second interface and by hiding all other of the plural elements.

In more detail, in step S1401, a default mode for the property page isdetected. This default mode indicates the interface that is shown whenthe property page is first displayed. In the preferred embodiment, this“default interface” is indicated by information on hard disk 6,particularly, in the Windows registry.

In step S1402, the default interface is shown in the property page; allother interfaces in the property page are hidden. This step is performedbecause, in the preferred embodiment, the property page actuallycontains all of the elements (i.e., list boxes, text boxes, slides,etc.) for every interface. For example, “Tone” property page 95 includestone curves 140, channel list box 145, contrast slide 146, brightnessslide 147, tone curve 148, channel list box 152, gamma slide 153, tonecurve 155, black-point adjustment 166, mid-point adjustment 167,white-point adjustment 168, etc. Thus, in order to show a particularinterface, the elements corresponding to the particular interface areshown. In order to hide the other interfaces, all other elements arehidden. In this regard, identical elements in different interfaces, suchas channel list box 145 in contrast/brightness tone control interface144 and channel list box 152 in gamma tone control interface 151, areactually the same element shown in combination with different elementsso as to form different interfaces.

In an alternative embodiment, each interface consists of a window havingelements entirely separate for each other interface. Thus, channel listbox 145 and channel list box 152 are different elements of differentwindows. Accordingly, in step S1402, the windows for each interface arelayered upon each other, with the uppermost window corresponding to theshown interface. As a result, the shown interface masks out theinterfaces below it, thereby hiding the other interfaces.

In step S1403, it is determined if a button is selected corresponding toan interface different than the interface currently shown in theproperty page. If such a button is selected, flow proceeds to stepS1404. In step S1404, the interface corresponding to the selected buttonis shown; all other interfaces are hidden.

Appendix A includes sample code illustrating one implementation of thisaspect of the invention, within a Microsoft® Windows environment.Generally speaking, according to this implementation, a property sheetis embedded within a property page. Thus, button region 130 and controlregion 131 actually form an embedded property sheet within “Tone”property page 95. Each individual interface in “Tone” property page 95,such as automatic tone control interface 139 or histogram tone controlinterface 158, is actually a property page of this embedded propertysheet. Appendix A includes sample code implementing this structure in aWindows environment.

Appendix B includes similar code in a scripting language within anApple® Macintosh environment.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for describing how user interface 64 is used soas to control features of an image acquisition device. In other words,FIG. 14 is a flowchart for describing the same process as FIG. 12through FIG. 14, only from the user's point of view.

Initially, the invention is activated and main window 65 is displayedwith property sheet 92 in control area 69. As discussed above, propertysheet 92 includes plural property pages 94 through 98. Each propertypages includes a tab describing the set of features that property pagecontrols. In step S1501, the user selects one of these property pagesvia a tab. In step S1502, the user determines if buttons correspondingto plural interfaces are available in the property page.

If buttons for plural interfaces are available, the user in step S1503selects a button for the interface that the user desires to use.Alternatively, the user retains the default interface that first appearsalong with the multiple buttons. In step S1504, the user manipulates theinterface displayed by the property page. Finally, flow returns to stepS1501 so that the user can select another property page.

The present invention has been described with respect to particularillustrative embodiments. However, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited to the above described embodiments and thatvarious changes and modifications may be made by those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.In particular, the above has been described using Windows terminology.However, the invention is equally applicable to other computingenvironments, such as Macintosh, Unix, and XWindows.

1. A user interface comprising: a property page for adjusting a tonecurve for an image acquisition device wherein said tone curve shows atransfer function for relating input tones of the image acquisitiondevice to output tones, said property page having at least first andsecond selection elements displayed within the property page, each ofthe at least first and second selection elements for selecting anddisplaying a different appearance of a tone control region of theproperty page, wherein the tone control region and the property page arean integral part of a same displayed window, and wherein the tonecontrol region changes appearance such that a first appearance of thetone control region is displayed in response to selection of the firstselection element, and a second appearance of the tone control region isdisplayed in response to selection of the second selection element, andwherein the first appearance of the tone control region includesuser-manipulable controls whose manipulation is reflected in said tonecurve, and wherein the second appearance of the tone control regionincludes a directly manipulable editable tone curve.
 2. A user interfaceaccording to claim 1, wherein said first and second selection elementsare shown both when the first appearance is provided and when the secondappearance is provided.
 3. A user interface according to claim 1,wherein said control clement comprises at least one element selectedfrom the group of list boxes, text boxes, check boxes, slides, buttons,and editable curves.
 4. A user interface according to claim 1, whereinthe user interface is executed in a windowing environment.
 5. A userinterface according to claim 1, wherein said at least first and secondselection elements are arranged based on the familiarity of thecorresponding appearance of the tone control region to users ofdifferent levels of expertise or based on the complexity of thecorresponding appearance of the tone control region.
 6. A method forproviding a user interface comprising the steps of: displaying aproperty page for adjusting a tone curve for an image acquisitiondevice, wherein said tone curve shows a transfer function for relatinginput tones of the image acquisition device to output tones, anddisplaying as part of the property page at least first and secondselection elements, each of which for selecting and displaying adifferent appearance of a tone control region of the property page,changing the tone control region of the property page in response toselection of one of the first and second selection elements such that afirst appearance of the tone control region is displayed in response toselection of the first selection element, and a second appearance of thetone control region is displayed in response to selection of the secondselection element, wherein the control region and the property page arean integral part of a same displayed window, and wherein the firstappearance of the tone control region includes user-manipulable controlswhose manipulation is reflected in said tone curve, and wherein thesecond appearance of the tone control region includes a directlymanipulable editable tone curve.
 7. A method for providing a userinterface according to claim 6, wherein said first and second selectionelements are shown both when the first appearance is provided and whenthe second appearance is provided.
 8. A method for providing a userinterface according to claim 6, wherein said control element comprisesat least one element selected from the group of list boxes, text boxes,check boxes, slides, buttons, and editable curves.
 9. A method forproviding a user interface according to claim 6, wherein the userinterface is executed in a windowing environment.
 10. A method accordingto claim 6, wherein said at least first and second selection elementsare arranged based on the familiarity of the corresponding appearance ofthe tone control region to users of different levels of expertise orbased on the complexity of the corresponding appearance of the tonecontrol region.
 11. An apparatus for providing a user interface,comprising: a memory for storing executable process steps includingexecutable process steps for a user interface; input means for inputtingdata; output means for outputting data; and a processor for executingthe process steps stored in said memory so as (1) to display a propertypage for adjusting a tone curve for an image acciuisition device,wherein said tone curve shows a transfer function for relating inputtones of the image acquisition device to output tones, and to display aspart of the property page at least first and second selection elements,each for selecting and displaying a different appearance of a tonecontrol region of the property page, and (2) to change the tone controlregion of the property page in response to selection of one of the firstand second selection elements such that a first appearance of the tonecontrol region is displayed in response to selection of the firstselection element, and a second appearance of the tone control region isdisplayed in response to selection of the second selection element,wherein the control region and the property page are an integral part ofa same displayed window, and wherein the first appearance of the tonecontrol region includes user-manipulable controls whose manipulation isreflected in said tone curve, and wherein the second appearance of thetone control region includes a directly manipulable editable tone curve.12. An apparatus for providing a user interface according to claim 11,wherein said first and second selection elements are shown both when thefirst appearance is provided and when the second appearance is provided.13. An apparatus for providing a user interface according to claim 11,wherein said control element comprises at least one element selectedfrom the group of list boxes, text boxes, check boxes, slides, buttons,and editable curves.
 14. An apparatus for providing a user interfaceaccording to claim 11, wherein the user interface is executed in awindowing environment.
 15. An apparatus according to claim 11, whereinsaid at least first and second selection elements are arranged based onthe familiarity of the corresponding appearance of the tone controlregion to users of different levels of expertise or based on thecomplexity of the corresponding appearance of the tone control region.16. Computer-executable process steps stored on a computer-readablemedium, the process steps for use on a computer system to provide a userinterface, the process steps comprising: code to display a property pagefor adjusting a tone curve for an image acquisition device, wherein saidtone curve shows a transfer function for relating input tones of theimage acquisition device to output tones, and to display as part of theproperty page at least first and second selection elements each forselecting and displaying a different appearance of a tone control regionof the property page, and code to change the tone control region of theproperty page in response to selection of one of the first and secondselection elements such that a first appearance of the tone controlregion is displayed in response to selection of the first selectionelement, and a second appearance of the tone control region is displayedin response to selection of the second selection element, wherein thecontrol region and the property page are an integral part of a samedisplayed window, and wherein the first appearance of the tone controlregion includes user-manipulable controls whose manipulation isreflected in said tone curve, and wherein the second appearance of thetone control region includes a directly manipulable editable tone curve.17. Computer-executable process steps according to claim 16, whereinsaid first and second selection elements are shown both when the firstappearance is provided and when the second appearance is provided. 18.Computer-executable process steps according to claim 16, wherein saidcontrol element comprises at least one element selected from the groupof list boxes, text boxes, check boxes, slides, buttons, and editablecurves.
 19. Computer-executable process steps according to claim 16,wherein the computer-executable process steps are executed in awindowing environment.
 20. Computer-executable process steps accordingto claim 16, wherein said at least first and second selection elementsare arranged based on the familiarity of the corresponding appearance ofthe tone control region to users of different levels of expertise orbased on the complexity of the corresponding appearance of the tonecontrol region.
 21. A computer-readable medium which storescomputer-executable process steps for use on a computer system toprovide a user interface, the process steps comprising: a displayingstep to display a property page for adjusting a tone curve for an imageacquisition device, wherein said tone curve shows a transfer functionfor relating input tones of the image acquisition device to outputtones, and to display as part of the property page at least first andsecond selection elements each for selecting and displaying a differentappearance of a tone control region of the property page; a changingstep to change the tone control region of the property page in responseto selection of one of the first and second selection elements such thata first appearance of the tone control region is displayed in responseto selection of the first selection element, and a second appearance ofthe tone control region is displayed in response to selection of thesecond selection element, wherein the control region and the propertypage are an integral part of a same displayed window, and wherein thefirst appearance of the tone control region includes user-manipulablecontrols whose manipulation is reflected in said tone curve, and whereinthe second appearance of the tone control region includes a directlymanipulable editable tone curve.
 22. A computer-readable mediumaccording to claim 21, wherein said first and second selection elementsare shown both when the first appearance is provided and when the secondappearance is provided.
 23. A computer-readable medium according toclaim 21, wherein said control element comprises at least one elementselected from the group of list boxes, text boxes, check boxes, slides,buttons, and editable curves.
 24. A computer-readable medium accordingto claim 21, wherein the process steps are computer-executable in awindowing environment.
 25. A computer-readable medium according to claim21, wherein said at least first and second selection elements arearranged based on the familiarity of the corresponding appearance of thetone control region to users of different levels of expertise or basedon the complexity of the corresponding appearance of the tone controlregion.